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Easter Bonus: The Bunny and the Egg

03-29-2018, 04:59 PM

I had planned to post this on Easter, but since I just learned I won't be around from Saturday to Wednesday, here's my silly Easter gift for the forum. Like the one I did for Christmas, it's not meant to be taken much seriously, but it's rather a little thing I hope will get some smiles and laughs from those who decide to give it a read. Let me know if you like it or not

Happy Easter, Onyx Path Forum!

EDIT: The inspiration for Bunny comes from Dark Souls' Mushroom People. Those who met them will understand

Here’s how the tale goes: when spring comes, nature awakens and life returns to the world after the cold months of winter, a bunny might come to town. He carries an eggwith him and, the legend says, if you manage to get a hold of it, it hides the secret of true resurrection within its shell, no strings attached.

Considered by most Uratha to be a folk tale at best, the story suddenly becomes more plausible when they actually see the its protagonist. The “bunny”, an enormous creature as tall and big as a werewolf in Gauru form, radiates tangible power and warps the world around him, both material and spiritual. A source of unbound life and renewal, the bunny wanders around, nature blooming in his path. And, to the wonder of everyone, he does indeed carry something resembling a big egg, the size of a human head, around.

Whatever the real nature of the beast is, it clearly upsets the balance between our world and the Shadow and it’s hard to deny that the powerful Claimed is a prey that local packs should be wary of. But it also inevitably makes Uratha wonder. what if the rest of the legend is also true?

Easter Bunny (?) (as a Claimed demigod)

There was once a little fluffy bunny who loved to nibble its seeds and greens, play in the grass and get pet. Then it met a thing from beyond the Gauntlet. Some say it was a powerful magath of life, animals, joy and festivities, others the herald of a long forgotten goddess or even an ancient god of the Shadow itself. The spirit merged with the little bunny and they became a single entity, a mighty Claimed that can be a threat even to a pack of veteran werewolves.

Bunny resembles, for the lack of a better description, a towering anthropomorphic...well, bunny. With arms as wide as tree trunks and its impressive size, Bunny achieves an uncanny balance between menacing, ridiculous and endearing. Small flowers bloom across its fur and the ground cracks when it taps its feet.

Yet, for all its unbridled power, Bunny is all but malevolent. It just spends some time around, following the spiritual imperatives of a nature too far removed from both that of “normal” spirits and Claimed. All that interests it seem to bring back life to the region and enjoy the results, only to hop away soon after. If left undisturbed, Bunny will eventually leave, though admittedly that’s not always an option because the Claimed is so strong that its mere presence inevitably leads to upheaval and chaos. The kind of fecundity that follows Bunny is not the unnatural, corrupted one more often associated with idigams, but something more akin to an utopic primeval ideal of Mother Nature. Still, it can be both a blessing and a curse, since Bunny cares little for where its influence falls nor will leave if it does not feel to do so.

If Bunny is attacked or feels in danger, it will retaliate. Many unwary Uratha have discovered that the fluffy Claimed can pack the kind of punch that can knock-out a werewolf with a single hit. It should not be underestimated. That said, those who tried to gain its trust or proved to be gentle with it, have discovered that Bunny can be friendly. The Claimed is innately driven to heal those who are suffering and seems to have a soft spot for children, with whom it loves to play with. Efforts to communicate with Bunny don’t lead to much: it might be smarter than a mundane bunny, but its mind is still more animalistic than anything. Nevertheless, it understands intentions and is perceptive enough to make a distinction between friends and foes. Be kind with Bunny and it will be kind with you, until it inevitably leaves to continue its travels.

The only exception to Bunny’s passive, overall friendly nature is when someone tries to touch its egg. Even those who do so by mistake are immediately treated as hated foes by the Claimed, which will immediately try to pulverize them. Only children are spared from Bunny’s wrath on these occasions: the creature will instead run away with all the urgency its supernatural physique can provide, tearing down walls and trampling people, never to look back.

What is the Egg? Can it really be used to bring back anything from death, regardless of how much time has passed and what the circumstances of the demise were, as the legends say? What about those stories where someone managed to snatch it from Bunny long enough to use it? Are those lies or Bunny can simply make new eggs should one get destroyed?

Who knows. But here’s some options, should you decide to mess with Bunny.

- The Egg is a portion of Bunny’s soul, coalesced in a separate shape from the Claimed itself. The spirit that merged with the little creature was a really big one, its essence impossible to contain in a single recipient. To steal the Egg amounts to ripping a part of Bunny away, something it is not eager to experience.

- The Egg cannot be used to bring new life, but it does protect existing one. It is a spiritual node of impressive magnitude, an embodiment of life itself. Breaking the Egg would have dire consequences on a wide scale, turning green pastures into deserts and entire ecosystems into dust. Let Bunny take care of it.

- There’s a Pangean in the Egg. It was laid before the Sundering and protected the creature within from it and external dangers, as any good egg should do. Who’s inside? Can it even hatch, considering the current state of the world? Would it be a good thing or a bad one?

- There’s an idigam in the Egg. Bunny does not want it to get out. The idigam has spent a lot of time with the Claimed, powerless as long as the Egg does not hatch. The idigam, after years of captivity, is both angry towards and afraid of Bunny.

- The Egg is not an egg: it’s a moon! Or at least, it’s a stone that allows to get Luna’s attention with little effort.

- The Egg is an omphalos stone. One of rebirth and renewal, the kind of resonance that directly opposed Harvest.

Comment

No worries, that "I can still try to write horror" was referring to the weird inspirations I used and overall odd entry that's Bunny, not to anything you said. Just some humorous self-deprecation of mine.

But yeah, Frank's is not an easy image to shake out of the mind when he decides to pop up.